Senator Basnight, I am sure that you are aware that the House Study commission has recently recognized that there is a need to reform if not end the archaic practice of Forced Annexations, and on behalf of all the people in North Carolina I ask for your support of this measure. I live in what was once a quiet, rural County called Davidson, and what was once a friendly and peaceful place has become a battleground of hatred, lies, betrayal and mistrust – all because of forced annexation. We in the county are lied to and about publicly on a regular basis and the lies from our antagonist – the City of Lexington – are the same lies every other town and city across N.C uses to defend THEIR annexations. These towns learn the same excuses from the League of Municipalities, but one size does not fit all when it comes to annexation. Lexington offers us nothing, we want nothing from the town, and we gain nothing except bad things from our unfortunate proximity to the town. We have our own streetlights and garbage service, state-of- the art septic systems, and very capable County Services that can and will provide anything that we might need in the future.

   The City of Lexington will undoubtedly be lobbying you aggressively along with the League of Municipalities, and if history proves repetitive, the Lexington officials will repeat the same mistruths they tired to tell the Davidson County citizens and which the Lexington officials actually had the audacity to repeat to the study commission at the meetings. This oft-repeated lie is that the City of Lexington “gave” West Davidson High School sewer service “out of civic duty”. The truth is that the County installed the sewer lines themselves and paid millions to connect to the city sewer, and like every county citizen or entity pays DOUBLE sewer rates as does city residents. This was a mutually-beneficial, mutually desired arrangement, unlike the City of Lexington using the County landfill, Social Services, Courthouse, Library, and many other County services for which the County receives no special payment. I will include the actual cost from the County as well as Demographic statistics from the City of Lexington’s own website to prove that (1) We receive no benefit from the City of Lexington, and (2) we have NO incentive to want to join the city. We are not greedy, we simply do not want to be under the rule of people who, for over a year now, have derided, maligned, disrespected and lied to and about. Here are the Statistics from Lexington:

      Not all of the people being annexed here are wealthy. Several neighborhoods that the city is annexing as a “bridge” to wealthy neighborhoods will be devastated by the double taxes and fees, especially the thousands to “hook up” to the sewer. I will forward you several of the letters that have been in the local paper (the Dispatch) in which good people publicly admit that they will lose everything if and when they are annexed. Is this right? Does N.C want to be on National news as putting people out of their homes in order to feed the incessant greed of small towns like Lexington, or are we willing to admit that changes need to be made to protect both growth and people’s basic rights to their property? Lexington City has a public golf course which looses over $200,000 a year. It has refused offers to sell this golf course, despite the fact that to do so would add tax revenue and eliminate the tax loss. Also, the Mayor of Lexington recently sold at least one of his rental houses to the city – which bought the house (es) from him using tax money. (We have requested this and the annexation information pursuant to the N.C Open Records law and yet the City refuses to give us the information). Is it any wonder that we do not want to join the city, regardless of the taxes?

 I truly believe that we have the intellectual capabilities to do both. Virginia uses the Dillon rule, charges either city or County tax rates (not both), and have some of the most careful, genuine growth and nice cities in the USA without having to resort to forcing citizens to pay double taxes to people they were never allowed to vote for or against and without receiving anything in return for those taxes. From a letter I sent to correct one of the many lies the City of Lexington is telling Davidson County and our Representatives in Raleigh:

 The Mayor and other city employees have claimed publicly that the city “gave” the county sewer to West Davidson High School. Mr. Beck and the ass. City manager had the audacity to make the same misleading claims to House Representatives.

THIS IS THE TRUTH-

. The County installed the sewer line, and paid $1,708,993.15 for it. Easements cost $118,534, and capacity charge (Lexington) is $28,991.78. That is hardly “free” and done for “civic service” as the Lexington politicians claim!

. Every County citizen who may request sewer service pays double sewer fees.

. We hope that in the future the County Commissioners will invest in new septic tanks rather than any mutually beneficial agreements that will give the city reasons to annex in the future. They should also tell the city to find somewhere else to put its garbage (since the landfill is County).

. The Health department, Social Services, County Courthouse, landfill, library, and sheriffs department is ALL County entities.

.Lexington Councilman Victor Kiger claimed (at the public meeting) that Hawaii and Texas were forcefully annexed against their will into the United States. These states VOTED overwhelmingly to become states! And The Louisiana Purchase was a purchase, not an annexation!

 As you can see, the City Council of Lexington has no appreciation for the truth of history or of today, but if history is to teach us anything, it is that we, as a State, need to join the 21^st Century.

North Carolina has a habit of being on the wrong side of history, and seems to be determined to stay there. When Slavery was the issue, the leaders of this state defended it as an economic necessity, claiming that we could not compete economically without it, and that it was necessary to support the entire state infrastructure. These arguments, to our shame, are the same ones now being used to defend the modern form of slavery called forced annexation.
Forced annexation is an undemocratic form of oppressive tyranny that does not resemble either the spirit nor the letter of our Constitutional form of Government. Without vote, without consideration of the people annexed and without any Democratic debate or Representation townships across this state are misusing an originally flawed and archaic law to force the nearby County residents into neo-slavery by simply taking their hard-earned money through unjustified and unreasonable taxation.
Because County residents are forbidden by law to vote in town elections, this results in the undeniable condition of taxation without representation, and the obligatory “public hearings” are an exercise in futility that only result in further anger and frustration and hatred when the county citizens are invariably ignored and mistreated by the town officials.
The history of Forced Annexation is shamefully redundant. The “public meetings” are held. The county residents plead, protest, and usually spend thousands fighting the annexation. These County citizens fight because of an instinctive sense of moral outrage, not because some legal grey area has been infringed upon or even because they believe that they can win. They always fight because the simple, basic and most fundamental right of an American citizen – the right to VOTE – is being denied to them. They fight because of the insult to their humanity; they fight for a greater principle than most of them are even able to articulate or fully realize. They fight for the same reasons our founding fathers fought the War for Independence. They fight because they know, instinctively, that every American citizen should have the right to choose where to live and whom to pay taxes to.
The League of Municipalities would have everyone believe that those who oppose Forced Annexations are selfish, and that it is only about money. I wonder what the patriots who died for the principles of self-determination and liberty would think of those arguments, or the people across the world today who fight for the right to vote and resent being taxed by tyrants. History is full of tried and failed policies that should show us where policies such as Forced annexation will lead us, and, as William Pitt said, “Necessity is the cry for every infringement upon human liberty; it is the excuse of Tyrants, the creed of slaves”.

Representative Goforth,
I wanted to thank you and the study commission from the bottom of my heart for your wisdom in offering the bill for moratorium on forced annexations. Although it will probably be too late to help us here in Davidson County even if it does pass, I know that there are so many besieged neighborhoods and communities in North Carolina whom it may help that it would be selfish of me not to offer my thanks, and the thanks of all of us who would lament seeing others suffer the same fate that we will. We are not, as the cities claim, mean or selfish, and we appreciate what you have proposed and pray that it will help others. Please let us know what we can do, as citizens, to help you get this wise and discretionary bill passed.

                         Thanks again, Keith Bost and neighbors – Davidson County

I hope you remember that I pointed out to you that the claims made (by mayor pro-tem beck and the assistant city manager Carson from Lexington) were false, and below is the actual cost of the sewer that they claimed was “given” to the County school from a selfless “civic duty”. You will find it interesting. I find it unimaginable that City councilmen would have the audacity to lie to the State Representatives, but we here are used to being lied to (and about) by the city of Lexington. I know such propagandized, twisted, and outright avoidance of the truth is common to most if not many Municipal officials and councils.

Keith,

Enclosed is the information you requested concerning the sewer expenditure paid by the County for the West Davidson Sewer Project.  Hope this helps.

 

Larry Potts, Chairman
Davidson County Board of Commissioners

 

          Total cost was $1,708,993.15.

The easements were $118,534.00

The capacity charge to City of Lexington was $28,991.78. 

Larry Potts would be honored to answer any of your questions concerning this matter.

The city of Salisbury, our neighbor, backed away from its’ plans to annex after finding that the people there requested sewer. Nothing more clearly illustrates the fact that these cities have NO INTENTION of providing service in a timely manner, and that the cities are annexing simply in order to gather tax revenue while taking all the time they want in providing the “promised” services.

Our own City Community Director, Tammy Keply, recently stated in an interview (the Lexington Dispatch) that the “city has two years to provide trunk lines”. Lexington has NO intention of providing anything else. We will have the same fire protection and water service. We have our own streetlights and everything else we want or need. We also have eight people who will lose their homes here, so please declare a moratorium on annexations before this happens.

Thank you very much, Keith Bost and neighbors.